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The BurmaNet News: May 3, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: May 3, 1999
Issue #1263

HEADLINES:
==========
KNU: STATEMENT ON DEATH OF 7 SPDC OFFICIALS 
REUTERS: IGNORED BY ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK 
REUTERS: MYANMAR LAUNCHES NEW THERMAL POWER PLANT   
REUTERS: NO RAPPROCHEMENT IN SIGHT IN MYANMAR 
BKK POST: ATTACK BADLY DAMAGES POLICE STATION 
BKK POST: MALAYSIA CAR CLUB WARNED TO STAY AWAY
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Karen National Union: Statement on Death of 7 SPDC Officials
30 April,1999

OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS

KAWTHOOLEI

On February 23, 199, troops from Column 2 of the KNLA 6th Brigade found 13
SPDC
officials on Three Pagoda-Thanbyzayat motor road, between Thanbyaywa and
Khunnaywa villages. As they were carrying 28 trunks of the SPDC IB 97
Commander, the KNLA troops took them for temporay detention and questioning.
The place where the incident took place was a bout 15 miles from Thanbyuzayat
and amid a number of SPDC army out-posts.

Subsequent to the incident, the SPDC local commanders informed Column 2 to
release the officials. Similarly, leaders of the SPDC higher echelon also
informed the KNU Central Headquarters. The KNU Central Headquarters as well as
Column 2 informed the SPDC leaders that the officials were taken temporarily
for questioning and that it was necessary for the SPDC troops not to intervene
by military means, in the matter. However, the SPDC military leaders, using 8
military columns involving troops from SPDC LIB 343,IB 97, IB 62, IB 24, IB
81,LIB 202, IB 284 and IB 310 launched the operations of encirclement and
annihilation, relentlessly, from 24-2-99 to 28-2-99. In the six clashes that
took place between the KNLA and the SPDC troops, seven of the SPDC officials
and three KNLA troops were killed. After that, the remaining 6 SPDC officials
were released, in good order. The SPDC officials killed in action were (1) U
Aung Min, officer, SR# Ka/2758, (2)Ko Kyaw Naing, officer, SR# Ka/6679, (3) Ko
Tun Tin, sergeant, SR# Ka/4727, (4) Kyaw Myo Aung, Sergeant, SR# Ka/13232, (5)
Win Myint Aung, sergeant, SR# Ka/2058, (6) Naing Win Htet, sergeant, SR#
Ka/13647 and (7) Win Kyaw Aung, sergeant, SR# Ka/7352.


With regard to the death of the officials, the SPDC has been spreading
arduously its propaganda, at home and abroad, that the KNU is an organization
holding the policy of homicide. This effort at propaganda by the SPDC was
merely an attempt by it to cover up its true character and image of homicide.
The KNU is a nationality resistance organization engaged in a resistance war,
for nationality rights and democracy, against the SPDC military junta, which
has imposed a tyrannical rule of militarism on the country. The KNLA troops
come into contact regularly with the SPDC officials and relatives. They detain
them for questioning, only when necessary, and release them invariably. In the
50 years of struggle, there have been countless examples of the detainees
being
released, after questioning.


In conclusion, we the KNU, would like to affirm that we are much saddened by
the death of the seven, unnecessarily, and that the SPDC leaders are capable
only of using force in their attempts to resolve problems. This also shows
that
the SPDC leaders do not hold any affection, value or responsibility for their
officials, and that they would not hesitate to wantonly sacrifice them on the
battlefields, for the sake of vanity, This is one of the evil results of the
rule of the military dictatorship, which has brought vast trouble upon the
country. For this reason, the SPDC military dictatorship must bear all the
responsibility for the matter.

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REUTERS: MYANMAR COMPLAINS IT IS IGNORED BY ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
1 May, 1999

MANILA, May 1 (Reuters) - Myanmar on Saturday questioned the Asian Development
Bank's reluctance to extend financial and technical assistance to it and said
it was time the multilateral agency changed its policy.

``The bank has ignored providing assistance to Myanmar although Myanmar has
been striving to develop her economy...It is opportune time to provide its
assistance to Myanmar,'' Finance and Revenue Minister Khin Maung Thein said in
his speech at the annual meeting of the Manila-based ADB.

The ADB ceased leading to Myanmar, formerly Burma, in 1986 and stopped
extending technical assistance in 1987.

The bank said this was due to the country's dual exchange rate system, which
gave its currency differing values.

Khin Maung Thein said Myanmar should be treated in the same fashion as other
ADB members. ``It is unfair to neglect Myanmar because Myanmar has been a
legitimate member of the bank since 1973...Myanmar wants to be treated
equally,'' he said.

ADB officials said they were observing Myanmar's economy and would
formulate an
operational strategy at the appropriate time.

****************************************************************

REUTERS: MYANMAR LAUNCHES NEW THERMAL POWER PLANT
2 May, 1999

YANGON, May 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar's Ministry of Electric Power has launched a
$28.3 million joint venture thermal power plant in an effort to ease the
country's acute power shortage.

The official Myanmar News Agency (MNA) said on Sunday the 54-megawatt combined
cycle power plant at Hlawga, 20 km (12 miles) north of the capital Yangon, was
inaugurated on Saturday by Major General Tin Htut, Minister for Electric
Power.

Japan's Marubeni Corp built the plant.

MNA quoted Tin Htut as saying Myanmar's current daily power consumption
reached
750 megawatts against 330 megawatts in 1988.

He said besides the new plant, the country's existing eight natural gas power
stations and six hydro-electric plants produced a combined 680 megawatts a
day.

Myanmar's power shortage, aggravated by reduced water levels in hydro-electric
dams, has forced Yangon to ration power, and the capital's residents have
received an average of 10 hours of electricity daily over the past year.

Chinese firms are now building what will be Myanmar's biggest hydro-power
plant
when it is completed in 2001. Located at Pyinamana near Mandalay, it will cost
an estimated $250 million.

****************************************************************

REUTERS: NO RAPPROCHEMENT IN SIGHT IN MYANMAR
2 May, 1999 by David Brunnstrom

YANGON, May 2 (Reuters) - The decade-old standoff between Myanmar's generals
and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a gritty battle of wills that
threatens to drag on many more years.

Like protagonists trapped in a miserable marriage, they are stuck with each
other but unable to exchange a kind word.

Interviews with both sides last week made clear the lack of mutual confidence
needed for rapprochement. Each accuses the other of intransigence and ruining
things for everybody else and neither appears willing to give a single
charitable inch.

This was most starkly demonstrated last month when the government refused a
visa to Suu Kyi's British husband Michael Aris to see her a final time before
he died of cancer.

Given the mood, the stalemate, which began in 1988 when the military took
direct power by crushing a pro-democracy uprising, looks set to play on for
some considerable time.

And the country's economic development will continue to be hampered while it
lasts.

``Every time, whenever they have the opportunity, they oppose, denounce,
attack
and condemn,'' Foreign Minister Win Aung said of Suu Kyi and her National
League for Democracy (NLD). ``How can you create ground where we can stand
together?''

Suu Kyi said she thought talks would come eventually and she did not think it
would take another 10 years to achieve democracy. But she was unwilling to go
further.

``I can only say that this is my opinion. I am not a prophet, I am not an
astrologer... You can never tell in politics, 24 hours can be a long time, or
24 years can be nothing.''

She offered the example of talks that followed long years of conflict between
Palestinians and Israelis, and negotiations between South Africa's white
government and the African National Congress.

In Myanmar it is hard to see a catalyst for change.

Some opponents of the military look back wistfully to the 1988 uprising during
which their dreams seemed to hover tantalisingly close before the military
bloodily reasserted its power.

But diplomats say the brutality of the suppression of the movement makes a
repeat bid unlikely, despite mounting discontent at an economic relapse and 50
percent annual inflation.

Many opponents of the military have held out hope the eventual demise of
officially retired strongman Ne Win, the architect of authoritarian rule,
could
be a turning point.

Diplomats say the octogenarian not only appears sprightly for his age but
there
are now growing doubts as to the influence he still retains on the armed
forces.

The rumour mill periodically churns out tales of impending splits within the
army but none has ever materialised.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Aung San and the 1991 Nobel Peace
laureate, remains hugely popular, but in a land where guns have meant power
for
nearly four decades, this is clearly not enough.

Myanmar has been subject to U.S. and E.U. sanctions because of its
treatment of
the NLD. These have limited investment amid a loss of inflows from crisis-hit
Asia, and clearly rankle with government, but appear only to have hardened its
stance.

``We had a vision we could start our economy moving with tourism,'' Win Aung
said. ``So we put in a lot of effort and money for that. Then (the NLD) had a
campaign not to visit Myanmar.

``They have lost the opportunity. They have lost the chance. The people have
come to understand the real motive of the NLD -- just for power, not for the
nation-building process.''

``We in our country will steadfastly do what is right for our country
regardless of whatever actions they take,'' he said of the sanctions. ``We
cannot deviate from our chosen path.''

The crux remains the last election, in 1990, which the military staged but
refused to honour when the NLD won.

The NLD has stuck to its insistence that power be transferred and set up a
committee last year to represent parliament, prompting the arrest of hundreds
of its members.

The government says all will be freed if the NLD disbands its committee; Suu
Kyi says it will once parliament is formed.

Some government officials have all but stopped arguing the point. One said the
makeup of the government had changed three times since 1990 and the election
itself was a mistake.

``You can't blame this government for actions of a previous government.
This is
a completely different set of generals.''

****************************************************************

BANGKOK POST: ATTACK BADLY DAMAGES POLICE STATION
2 May, 1999 

MAE HONG SON

INTRUDERS BELIEVED TO BE BURMESE TROOPS

Foreign intruders suspected to be Burmese troops and pro-Rangoon Karen rebels
stormed a Thai border police station with grenades and automatic gunfire early
yesterday morning.

An informed police source said the intruders, numbering about 20, first
abducted a Thai villager, identified as Atchavat Sringarm, 36, and forced him
to lead them to the Ban Nam Piang Din police station, located about two
kilometres from the Thai-Burmese border.

Then the intruders surrounded the police station and opened fire with grenade
launchers and automatic gunfire.

The station was manned by four policemen who put up a brief resistance before
retreating further inland.

Atchavat later said he managed to escape from his captors when the fire-fight
started.

After the attack, which badly damaged the police station, the intruders pulled
back into Burma with three Thai hostages who were later released unharmed.

Police reinforcements which were rushed to the scene yesterday found 15 spent
shells of M79 grenades.

Pol Lt-Gen Aram Chanpen, commissioner of 5th Region Provincial Police, later
inspected the site with the provincial governor, Amorphan Nimanan, and
admitted
he did not know why the small police station had come under attack.

He said Ban Nam Piang Den was a popular tourist attraction to see the
long-necked Padaung tribes people. He said he had asked local police officers
and were told they did not have any conflict with the Burmese or the Karens.

The police commissioner appealed to the government to hold talks with Rangoon.

****************************************************************

BANGKOK POST: MALAYSIA CAR CLUB WARNED TO STAY AWAY
30 April, 1999 

MAE SOT/TAK

REBEL THREAT ALONG THE ROAD TO RANGOON

A Malaysian motor club planning a tour to Burma has been warned of possible
danger from rebel forces along the Myawaddy-Rangoon route.

The warning was issued by the information centre of the anti-Rangoon Karen
National Union to Douglas Choong, director of the Royal Perak Motor Club in
Malaysia.

It followed reports the club planned an overland trip for 30 Malaysian
tourists
to Burma from May 10 to May 29.

The 20-day journey, with 15 cars, would start from Ipoh on the Malaysian west
coast and proceed to Rangoon via the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge in Tak's
Mae Sot district.

The convoy is scheduled to pass through Myawaddy, Kawkareik, Pa-an, Thaton,
Kyaitho and Pago.

Tour operators in Mae Sot expressed dissatisfaction with Rangoon's decision to
allow the Malaysian tour firm to make the trip.

Spokesman Abhisit Chonsathorn accused Rangoon of double standards by allowing
foreign tour operators to take tourists to into the country by car, but
denying
Thai companies the right.

"Burma always turns down our requests to take tourists in by car, but. allows
foreign firms to make an overland trip.

"The 79-million-baht Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge was paid for with Thai
people's tax money to facilitate the transport of the goods and people of the
two countries.

"It's strange that we Thais cannot drive a car to Burma across the bridge," he
said

Mr Abhisit said his recent application to take 50 tourists into Burma by car
was rejected.

He would raise the matter with the Association of Tourist Operators in
Thailand, and ask them to call on the government to ban all foreign tour firms
from making overland trips to Burma through Thailand.
****************************************************************